Switching converters in which transistor switches are driven between fully on and fully off provide great efficiency improvements over dissipative style converters in which a transistor is used in a linear mode to drop a voltage across the transistor while current flows through the transistor such that a voltage at a terminal thereof, such as an emitter, collector or source or drain of the transistor is held at a desired output voltage.
However switching converters incur switching losses, and these become proportionally more significant as a load current reduces.